SDR, your spouse might already know this but the The San Diego Food Bank has many distribution centers throughout the county where those in need can go in and get some commodities and other grocery items to tide them over until the next payday.
As far as the military families in need are concerned, the Navy Relief Society (may currently be under a different name) can advance active duty families funds for groceries and other emergencies, but they will require financial counseling as a condition of accepting their assistance.
The DECA commissaries (North Island, 32nd St and Miramar) have prices that are 20-50% lower than civilian supermarkets (for the same item). In the bent can/taped-up box “markdown” section of the commissaries, the savings are 60-80% lower than civilian supermarkets. The commissaries have two cash register lines devoted solely to WIC and EBT card recipients. All active duty personnel and their families can shop there, as well as retired senior citizens and their spouses. In addition, ALL of the commissaries are on bus lines and one is on a trolley line as well.
All active-duty military families are eligible for free housing and utilities at a military housing complex or a for LARGE “housing allowance” instead. Here is the current schedule of monthly housing allowances for members with dependents for the San Diego region by rank (page 4):
If the “impovershed” military families that you are referring to here are local tenants NOT living in military-owned housing, then it is very possible that they are renting a property far above their housing allowance and means and/or are not used to paying for utilities out-of-pocket because the military pays for them in military housing. Their solution then is to rent a cheaper unit/house until they are able to move into military-owned quarters.
When the military garnishes the member’s housing allowance because he/she moves into government quarters, the only utilities they are responsible for there are cable TV, internet and cell phone. The rest of their base pay can be used for vehicle expenses, food, discretionary items and savings. If they use military clinics and hospitals, their health care is free for the entire family. They don’t even have co-pays, except in as an inpatient at a Naval Hospital. Those co-pays were $10 per day (“per diem”) last time I checked!
There is no excuse whatsoever for a military family to not have enough food to last until the next payday. There are ready and willing financial and budget counselors standing by to assist these families at all Family Service Centers throughout the county. In addition, a ship or squadron ombudsmen has many resources to help these families if they are contacted for help.
Young servicemembers who rank less than E-3 (an “A” school student or recent graduate) are heavily counseled and encouraged by the military from the day they show up for basic training NOT to marry or have families until they have at least achieved the rank of E-3 (and preferably E-5). Often, to a single mom living in an impovershed area of the country (with or without a HS diploma or GED), finding and “landing” a military-member spouse is considered to be a ticket out of town and into security for themselves and their children. Some of these spouses end up in coastal CA counties with their built-in family as an extra “seabag” for a young servicemember, who is ill equipped to deal with this huge responsibility and expense. This also may be part of the problem you may be seeing with “impovershed” military families.
Qualifications: ex-volunteer for the Navy Relief Society and former graduate of the “Bluejacket Manual” Club :=]
